Consumption Bar or Open Bar?

4 hours seems to me like a long time for a reception without a DJ and Dancing

Signature drink isn't an option.

I just think it is highly doubtful I will get to $1,300 for 22 drinking adults. Pretty much the options I am considering are open bar with beer and wine for 3 hours or 4 hours or the consumption thing. Feel like the open bar will be a waste of money though.

That is my thoughts SJ so I don't know if it makes sense to pay for the open bar that long.

We're just having beer/wine and a signature drink.

Definitely don't set a limit as to when a bar caps.

Either do open or consumption. I think this is more of a "know your guests". For example, I know that if I had a consumption bar, my guests would drink be into bankruptcy...then a black hole..so I will have an open bar.

For a small, lunchtime reception with no dancing, I would say you would be safe doing a *limitless* consumption bar.

I would do a consumption bar (without a cap). I just hosted a four hour non-wedding related event in CT for about 25 guests who are heavy drinkers and ended up only spending $900 for alcohol.

If the beer/wine/liquor consumption bar is cheaper than the beer/wine open bar then go with that. But don't cap it. Just pay for the whole evening.

Imagine if you were at a wedding and your first two beers were free. Then towards the end of the night you go up to get a third and suddenly you have to find $5 to pay for it. Wouldn't you be ticked off? I sure would.

Can i ask why a signature drink isn't an option? Because of the venue?

I'd do open beer and wine.

I'd do 3 hours of open bar with beer & wine, they can purchase liquor drinks if they don't want to indulge in free beer and wine.

@Alyssachu I live in the DC area but the reception is in Fort Lauderdale. I have to check out the drink prices when I go to visit in a few weeks.

@Yasmina Yes. The Venue gave me these options only and honestly a signature drink wouldn't work for my crowd anyway to justify spending more money. The people who do drink liquor drink it straight up and only drink certain kinds. They would not drink a signature drink.

I would just like to point out that a reputable venue will let you know when you are ~$200 away from your limit, allowing you to add more if you want. That being said, I am doing a consumption bar for over 100 people since 75% of my guests are family, and a lot of them older. I'm not concerned about hitting a limit for the bar, and we're thinking about setting it at $2200 which is still $1100 cheaper than doing a straight open bar for all guests.

I'm doing a consumption bar, setting a $2,000 limit. The venue will notify us if that is running low and we can decide if we want to add more or turn it to cash bar. Here's why I don't feel bad about that. My side of the family doesn't drink. So I didn't want to pay per person when so many won't touch it. Secondly I feel that even paying for drinks at all is very generous of me! Why should I pay an unlimited amount for people to get drunk?! I'm okay with people enjoying themselves but after a certain point if their thirst isn't quenched then I think it's fair to leave it up to them to pay for it. It won't hurt them to go without alcohol to drink! They can still get other drinks free! And if the venue says our set amount is low one hour in there's NO way I'm leaving that open! If there's only an hour or less left we may just add on a bit to keep it open. I like that we have the choice at that time. Everyone has a budget to consider. If I had unending money of course I would leave it open but I don't have that luxury and I don't think I'm alone in that! You have to do what's best for you and your budget! And it sounds like a small intimate event so you know your guests and what would work best for them!

Gotcha, that makes sense.

Is it possible to do consumption without a cap?

If not, I'd go with open beer and wine.

@Duckie I hear ya. I will reconsider the cap. Guess I was just trying to cover my butt incase we somehow go over that amount.

@Cadie, I have read about people doing what you are doing with asking to me notified when the limit is hit and then making a decision. I considered that as well.

@Alyssachu yeah I understand. I am from south Florida (see user name). I think it really boils down to what people drink. If I know my crowd, most don't drink anything but beer and beer is very rarely $10+ a bottle.

I need to think it over but wanted some input from the crowd.

@Yasmina yes it is an option. That is most likely what I will choose after doing some drink math.

Like others have said it depends on your crowd. Do you have a lot of heavy drinkers? Also - the time of reception is early. In my opinion I don't see people drinking an excess amount of alcohol. I think in this case I would go by consumption.

If you set a limit and the limit is approaching - do you have the option of extending?

@MJ I haven't asked about the limit question yet. I live in a different state than my wedding so I am heading there in two weeks to finalize everything. I am just trying to think ahead.

I have some heavy beer drinkers and 2 heavy liquor drinkers. Most people would drink 3-5 beers in 4 hours I would say.

Edit: I am sure it is possible to be notified of reaching a limit though and make a decision about extending or not.

If you are planning on doing a consumption bar do not set a limit. Using your same parameters of 4 drinks per head calculate how much it would cost in a consumption arrangement and compare that to the open bar price.